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A student is late to lab: there is often a contract students must sign on the first day of lab. In those contracts, a time is specified after which if a student is late, they have missed important safety information and will not be allowed to participate in lab (for example, 20 minutes late). If this happens, have the student talk to the lab manager. Often an arrangement can be made that is agreeable to everyone.

A student misses a lab: If the student informs you before hand, be sure the lab manager knows about any arrangements you make. Often, you will be teaching more than one section, so the student can simply make up the lab in another section, or with another TA in the class. If there is an unintended absence, again, send the student to the lab manager. You may hear some wild excuses, but it is safest to error on the side of generosity and allow the student to make up the lab, or have that lab not count as part of their grade. If you refuse a make-up, the burden will fall to you to prove that the student's excuse is not recognized by the university, and you probably won't get a lot of help.

- in extreme cases, consult with the lab manager or professor

ii. Late or missing homework

Late homework: if there is no official course policy, it's a good idea to make up your own syllabus detailing explicitly what your late policy is. Again, it may be best to error on the side of generosity: let the student turn in their homework and give them full credit the first time, partial credit the next time.

Missing homework: Same as late homework. It may be easiest for you to allow them to redo their missing homework, rather than fight them on it. Whatever your stance is, the most important thing is to be consistent.